KUALA LUMPUR: The number of police personnel to be deployed to Sandakan to ensure smooth election process during the by-election for the parliamentary constituency, will be increased, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
Security control should also be enhanced on the basis of uncertain situation especially in the southern Philippines, which might affect Sabah, he said.
So far, over 1,000 police personnel had been stationed in Sandakan to ensure smooth running of the by-election process as the nomination was set for tomorrow, early voting on May 7 and polling on May 11.
“I have also given a specific order to Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah and Sandakan Police chief to ensure that the by-election runs safely and peacefully,” he told reporters after visiting the Selayang Hospital here today in conjunction with the 212th Police Memorial Day.
Also present were acting Deputy IGP Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador, Selangor Health deputy director Dr Noormi Othman and Selayang Hospital deputy director Dr Tengku Intan Norleen Tengku Shariff.
Mohamad Fuzi, however, said the deployment of the police personnel to Sandakan would not involve those in the peninsula as it would involve extra costs.
Yesterday, the IGP disclosed that the Daesh terrorist group has made Tawau and Sandakan in Sabah their new transit points to enter the southern Philippines and Rakhine, Myanmar.
He said the group had increasingly turned to Southeast Asia as their new hub following their heavy defeats to the allied forces in Iraq and Syria.
The Sandakan by-election was called after the sudden death of incumbent Datuk Stephen Wong Tien Fatt on March 28. — Bernama
